Shelley and Scott, writing nearly two centuries apart, are both particularly concerned with the potential dangers to humanity that may arise when the distinction between humans and non-humans is blurred by scientists, like Frankenstein and Tyrell, who wish to disrupt the natural order of things and to emulate God by creating ‘life forms’. While these texts are timeless they are also very much texts of their time and it is useful to consider the contexts in which they are written in order to develop an understanding of how the issues of the day impacted on the way that values were explored by the composers.
Contextual influences shape our values and way of life just as those of us living at that time challenge the values of that time. Shelley wrote Frankenstein during the scientific revolution not long after Galvani’s discovery of so-called ‘animal electricity’, sparking her idea of the possibilities of generating new human life. The power of the creative imagination was also a major influence on Shelley, a Romantic herself, and very influenced the renowned Romantic poets, husband Percy Shelley and friend Lord Byron.
Shelley used the character of Victor Frankenstein in order to question the scientific and industrial revolutions wherein industrialists and scientists were increasingly focused on the thirst for knowledge at the expense of nature. In her text she has the obsessed Victor comment that he “did not watch the blossom of expanding leaves” and here Shelley’s fleeting tone in ‘blossom’ demonstrates Victors involuntary discount for nature due to his over obsession with his work.
The Essay on Government Influence On Family Life
Do government programs influence family life? Some of these programs are Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. These programs have changed family life not only in a positive way, but also in a negative way. These programs are targeted at giving older citizen some form of money or medical care, while other programs are geared at taking money from the working class. Yes, government programs do ...
Shelley uses this as a warning to the public that the technological advances due to the scientific revolution and industrial revolution could easily cause the degradation of nature if they were improperly manipulated and not tempered by a commitment to nature and to humane and ethical ways of working. Furthermore it is only through the reconnection with the physical environment that Victor rejuvenates himself “my senses were elevated” referring to his time at the Alps.
This regular reference to the restorative power of nature reflects Shelley’s Romanticism but because she is also questioning the Romantic glorification of the imagination at other points in her novel we are left with her complex interpretation of Romanticism. In this way she both celebrates core ideas of the time and challenges them. These queries are reflected almost two centuries later in the film Blade Runner. The eerie opening Vangelis soundscape lays a foundation for an apocalyptic unnatural setting. This was Scott’s rendition and depiction of the consequences of late-capitalisms devaluing of spirituality and nature.
The outcome of this scientific excess is presented by Scott in this film in the artificial animals (Tyrell’s owls and Zhora’s snake), what appears to be a nuclear winter poisoned by fall-out which is dark and dank with constant acid rain and a crowded city full of human misery, artificial lighting, intrusive police monitoring, overwhelming advertising signage and monolithic corporate headquarters, all acting as a dire warning of the consequences of our failure to see the destructive impact of our contemporary existence.
The concept of promethean overreaching became ever-relevant when romanticisms limitless possibilities now became achievable through advances in technology. Shelley also used Victor as a pawn to demonstrate the impacts of how an individual’s emergent hubris fuelled by romantic values of progress and imagination can lead to over stepping of human boundaries which ends in tragedy and unintended consequences. Victors clouded vision and desire for recognition “a new species would bless me as its creator” ultimately leads him to his failure in creation.
The Essay on Ridley Scott Film Replicant Deckard
How important is characterisation to the success of a feature film or films you have studied? In the film Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott it is the characterisation of the film that maintains the viewers in suspense and awe. There are questions that are always asked during the film about specific characters which the directed has specifically left the atmosphere in doubt. Accordingly it is ...
Shelley uses the biblical story of God and Adam to portray her concerns about the seriousness of what Frankenstein is doing: “God in pity made man beautiful… after his own image, but my form is a filthy type of yours, the use of negative diction such as ‘filthy’ and the paradoxical comparison between God and Victor shows how attempting to overreach (i. e. play God) leads only to failure. This was also Shelley’s contest against the enlightenments’ scepticism on authority and her prediction to the consequences if taken too far.
Similarly within the film Blade Runner overreaching is also explored through the characters of Tyrell and his Replicants. During the time of production of this film there was an increase in genetic engineering such as the test tube babies and these scientific developments are clearly a contextual concern reflected in the film. Tyrell’s character is a response to technologies rapid growth and how a combination of hubris and technological ability could possibly lead to promethean overreaching leading to unintended consequences such as the redefinition of the constituency of humans.
Scott symbolically uses Tyrell’s domineering ziggurat headquarters to demonstrate the entirety of his ego which is apparent when Scott gets him to repeat the motto of his organisation: “more human that human is our motto”. This powerfully represents Tyrell’s aim to over reach the natural limits of mankind. Consequently we are left with the Nexus 6 replicants, their name alluding to sound like the “Next Us”, who frequently show more human qualities than the original humans.
This is evident when Roy saves Deckard, displaying his ability to empathise and that he has become fully self aware and truly human in the exercise of free will. This is contrasted to Deckard’s animalistic “one man slaughterhouse” where he can execute the act of murder with indifference. Scott causes us to question what constitutes humanity and ironically the answer is given by Pris the replicant when she quotes Descartes “I think therefore I am” showing her prudence above humans.
Much like Frankenstein, a similarly ironic relationship develops between creator and his creation, involving Tyrell and his insensitivity and the contrasting attitude of Roy, who’s didacticism to Deckard, “Not very sporting of you… aren’t you the good man? ” metaphorically alludes to the absence of the fundamental human values of compassion and empathy. Indeed Shelley’s warning on how the unbounded imagination followed by advancements in technology will lead to unintended consequence caused by overreaching, is also reflected through Tyrell in Blade Runner. Conclusion pending…
The Essay on Human Life God Rules Buddhism
What do Buddhism and Christianity Teach About the Significance, Purpose And Value of Human Life? BUDDHISM' The concern of Buddhism is with man rather than with the material universe. The phenomenal world is held to be without substance and to be in a constant condition of flux. Man himself is no less impermanent than the material world.' 3/4 Human life is subject to An icca, the law of ...
